Buffalo Rising Online

Oct 8th, 10:09am By Great Lakes United

After years of dedicated efforts across the entire Great Lakes region, much discussion and debate in state legislatures, and the voting of the Senate and House, the Great Lakes Compact is official. On Friday, President George W. Bush signed the Compact, making it a federal law to ban diversions from the Great Lakes. The signing of the Compact is a crucial moment in the history of our region. It says that water conservation is a top ecological, economic and cultural priority in our community and region, and the political actions taken have set new precedents in cooperative water management in United States, Canada, and the world for that matter.

Does President Bush’s signature mean that we can thank all the individuals who have worked for years on this compact? Yes. Without their efforts, southwest developers would still be drooling over Lake Erie. But should we pat ourselves on our backs and be done with it? No. While this is a landmark agreement, there is still work to be done. With Presidential approval, the responsibility has now come back to our individual states to implement it.

The Compact has set minimum standards that each of the eight Great Lakes States must uphold. Any state is free to make even more stringent water conservation efforts, or address water management issues absent from the Compact. But first it is important to know the baseline data: what is being taken out, by whom, and how much is returned to the Lakes. On top of that, state policies and programs will have to be updated- right now the New York State DEC is currently working on a report that is due to the State Legislature by the end of the year discussing the modifications that are needed in New York State to implement the Compact. And the Great Lakes Citizen Advisory Board is going to have to step up and provide recommendations on everything from how to develop withdrawal thresholds to how to develop conservation and water efficiency programs.

According to the Compact, many of these standards (including baseline withdrawal levels and conservation strategies) must be established by each state within two years. One challenge to that is consistency. In New York State alone, there are different withdrawal standards for our many different watersheds. If there is not consistency between the Delaware River, Hudson River, Alleghany River, and Lake Erie, how can we expect consistency across the eight states?

Now that the entire nation has recognized that the Great Lakes are resource that deserves respect and protection it is up to the states and region’s residents to back up this claim with responsible use and progressive policies. The Northeast states have the highest water consumption rates in the world. We are water gluttons. We have to prove the nation, and the world, that our water deserves to stay here by reducing consumptive water use.

We have told Washington that the Great Lakes are not a freshwater tap for the entire country. Now its time to be the best stewards we can be.